Journey through Judges 10-12

Judges 10-12

In Chapter 10 we start out with two minor Judges.  We don’t know a lot about them but we do know that between them they ruled over Israel for 45 years.  During this time it would appear that Israel enjoyed a relatively peaceful time and a time of obedience.  Starting in verse 6 is where we see Israel falling into sin again. 

Israel went all out in following other gods as we see in these first verses.  Notice what God’s response is in verse 7-8...God became angry with them and allowed the Philistines and Ammonites to shatter and crush them.  They were oppressed for a total of 18 years.  That is a long time to be under oppression.  It is noted in verse 9 that the Israelites were in great distress and therefore cried out to the Lord.  Isn’t it funny that the Israelites know where to turn when their backs are up against the wall.  It sure isn’t the Baals or the Ashtoreths.  How far to do we need to go with our “false gods” before we turn around and cry out to God in distress?  I think the most disturbing part of this chapter is found in v13-14 when God says I will no longer save you but go and cry out to the gods you have chosen.  Up till now God has always stepped in and saved the Israelites.  We see a different response from God.  God was pushing the Israelites to fully repent from their sins and turn to Him 100%.  There should be a change in behavior if there is a change in heart level.  Kyle Idleman in his book AHA says that “We spend much of our lives stuck between honesty and action”.  We can be honest that there is sin in our lives or we keep falling in a certain area but until we move to action there will be no change.  Are some of us today stuck between honesty and action?  What is the next step that needs to be taken?

The Israelites got to the point that the discipline of God was worth going through as long as He would rescue them.  They were at the end of themselves.  They wanted rescued now and were willing to face the consequences.  The Israelites acted upon their confession…they got rid of their idols and served the Lord.  Notice what God’s response was?  He could bear their misery no longer (v16).  Wow, we have a compassionate God.  He hurts when we hurt.

The pattern continues in that God raises up an unlikely hero to save Israel.  We are introduced to Jephthah, the Gideonite.  He was a mighty warrior.  Where have we heard this description before?....Gideon.  Jephthah was the son of Gilead but born of a prostitute not his wife.   Jephthah was driven away by his brothers as they believed he was not entitled to any of the family inheritance.  Jephthah fled from his brothers and attracted a group of adventurers as followers.  I wonder what they got up to?  However, it wasn’t long before the elders of Gilead were begging for Jephthah to come back and be their commander.  Talk about swallowing your pride.  However, we see in v7 that Jephthah was suspicious.   He questioned the elders on this but they said that they wanted him to fight the Ammonites and to be their head.  Jephthah wasn’t convinced.  However, the elders said that God was their witness and they would do it.

Jephthah didn’t go against the Ammonites with all guns blazing but took the diplomatic way first.  He questions King Ammonite’s reasons for attacking their country.  The Kings response is that the Israel took their land away and he wanted it back in a peaceful manner .  A message was sent back to the Ammonite King that this was not true and Jephthah proceeded to give him a history lesson on what had gone on before.

-          First of all the land did not belong to the Ammonites but to the Amorites.

-          God gave the land to the Israelites (v21) which shows that that the Israelites did not instigate the take over.

-          Israel occupied the land (v26) for 300 years and no one disputed that.

Jephthah put the Ammonite King in his place by telling him that he hadn’t wronged him (v27) but that he was in the wrong.  However, Jephthah was willing to let the Lord settle the dispute.   The King of Ammon made a fatal mistake at this point.  He didn’t listen to Jephthah which meant he wasn’t willing to let God decide the outcome.  In the end the Ammonites suffered at the hands of the Israelites.  20 towns were devastated as the Lord gave them into the Israelites hands.  Who says our actions don’t have consquences?  Because of King Ammon many people died at that time.

The spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah.  One Pastor put it like this…..

a. Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah: This was the source of Jephthah's courage. When we are beset by fears and anxieties, we need to fill our lives with Jesus and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

b. He advanced toward the people of Ammon: The filling of the Spirit makes us advance. We go forward in the sense of spiritual progress and we go forward in the sense of confronting the enemies of God.

We have access to the Holy Spirit at any time.  He is our guide, counsellor, teacher, comforter amongst other things.  Do we see Him as our first go to person when difficulties happen or we need help in some area or God is challenging us in an area to advance forward like Jephthah?.  This was a reminder for me and I hope a good reminder for you of who you have living inside of you.  He is on our side and He desires for us to grow and become more Christlike.

In the midst of this we see an interesting vow that Jephthah made in v30-31.  He promised God that whoever came out of the door of his house when he returned from battle will be sacrificed as a burnt offering.  I wonder if at this point Jephthah had taken leave of his senses.  What was he expecting to come out of his house?  By his response in v35 we see that he wasn’t expecting his daughter to walk out of the front door.  The two views on this oath that Jephthah made are the sacrificial view and the dedication view (views named by Tim Chaffney).  Most of us would want to stand with the dedication view in that Jephthah didn’t actually sacrifice her but had made a commitment that she remain a lifelong virgin in the Lord’s service just as Hannah dedicated Samuel.  This would mean that Jephthah’s family line would end with his daughter as she was an only child.  However, in Leviticus 5:4-10 there was a get out clause if you made a foolish vow.  It was called a trespass offering.  If Jephthah knew God’s Laws then he would have known he was not bound by a rash vow he made in the heat of the moment.  You can read further in Leviticus that he would have had other ways to redeem his daughter especially as she was a non-Levite.  He could have paid a redemption fee.  However, Deuteronony  23:2 states that because of her illegitimate birth heritage she could not serve in the temple.

Those who hold to the sacrificial view as one author put it would state that not to be able to carry on the family line was just as bad as dying.  Rachel said she would rather die than be barren (Genesis 30:1).  Also just reading the text in a straightforward manner would suggest that Jephthah did sacrifice her as a burnt offering. 

God used Jephthah as a Judge to rescue Israel but nowhere does it say he is a Godly man.  God uses each and every one of us despite her sinfulness and the consequences thereafter.  However, it doesn’t make our actions necessarily correct.

“Even a Spirit-filled man can do foolish things. The Holy Spirit does not overwhelm and control us, He guides us - and that guidance can be resisted or ignored at smaller or greater points”. (Guzik)

Chapter 12 starts out with our friends the Ephraimites.  Remember in the story of Gideon they were not happy that they had not been asked to join in the battle with the Midianites.  Here we see their noses being put out of joint again and this time with the Ammonites.  They like to be in the lime light and to be seen and given credit for what they do.  They are pretty mad with Jephthah as they tell him in v1 that because they were not invited to the battle they are going to burn his house down with him in it.  Jephthah responded to their complaining by saying that they had every opportunity to get stuck in and help but it states that they wouldn’t help (v3).  Talk about being inconsistent.  They wanted the glory of the battle but weren’t necessarily putting themselves out there to help.  With some people you just can’t win.

Jephthah and the men of Gilead fight against the Ephraimites and conquer them.  It says in v6 that 42,000 Ephraimites were killed in the battle.  Notice how the Gileadites detected an Ephraimite.  If they said the word Sibboleth instead of Shibboleth (means ear of grain or flowing stream) (they couldn’t pronounce the h”) then the Gileadites knew they were Ephraimites.  Just like today we can tell by our accents or dialects where we are from so they could do it then.

Jephthah led the Israelites for 6 years and then he died.  After Jephthah came three minor Judges.  In total Ibzan, Elon and Abdon judged over Israel for a total of 25 years.